Water Pollution

1. Water Pollution Types and Effects of Water Pollution 2009-10

2. Infectious Agents • Most serious in terms of human health • Pathogenic organisms • Typhoid, cholera, dysentery, polio, infectious hepatitis, schistosomiasis • Insect transmitted-yellow fever and malaria • Untreated human waste

3. Developed vs. Developing Countries • Developed- • 90% sewage treatment • 95% clean drinking water • Developing • 2.5 billion people lack adequate sanitation • 80% of all infectious disease • At least 2 million children die from dysentery

4. Coliform Tests • Residents of colon • Not pathogenic • Detect in water, assume sewage present • Figure 20.4

5. Oxygen Demanding Waste • BOD • DO • Oxygen Sag • Figure 20.6 • “Flowing waters can recover rapidly from degradable, oxygen-demanding wastes and excess heat through a combination of dilution and bacterial decay.” • BUT……..cannot recover IF……

8. Plant Nutrients & Eutrophication • Oligotrophic -low nutrients and low productivity • Eutrophic-rich in organisms and organic material • Eutrophication-normal successional process • Chesapeake Bay - a story • Poisoned Waters - Frontline

9. Cultural Eutrophication • Increased nutrients-nitrates & phosphates • Fertilizers and detergents • Nitric acid (precipitation_ • Human, animal, and industrial wastes

12. Process of Eutrophication • Increase of aquatic algae and plants • Algae blooms - primarily summer • Ugly-decrease recreational value • Bacterial populations increase • Lower of oxygen levels - fish kill • Marine-red tides

13. Pollution of Lakes and Ponds (489)

14. Toxic Inorganics - Heavy Metals • Fatal in as small as parts per million • Mercury poison - 1950s - Minamata, Japan • Bioaccumulation -persistent in ecosystems • Lead, mercury, cadmium • Industrial and leaching from mines

15. BIOMAGNIFICATION

16. Toxic Inorganics - Salts • Arsenic, chlorides, selenium • Road salts • Irrigation • Mobilization - irrigation and acid precipitation • Road salting

17. Toxic Inorganics - Acids & Bases • Industries -ammonia, metal plating, petroleum, chemical • Home use - dumped into sewers • Acid mine drainage-sulfuric • “Toxic” precipitation

18. Great Lakes Region - Water Problems (492)

19. Organic Chemicals • Thousands of synthetic organics • Pesticides, plastics, fibers, medicines, gasoline, oil, • Many highly toxic • Disposal of household and industrial • Runoff of pesticides • Bioaccumulation and biomagnification

20. Figure 19-11Page 495 Contaminated Probability Greater than 20 percent 10 to 20 percent Not tested

21. Sediments • Largest volume/mass of water pollutants • Increased erosion rate - soil loss • Fills lakes, obstructs shipping • Increased cost for industrial users and water purification plants • Block sunlight • Smother insects, etc. • Carry pesticides, bacteria, fertilizers

22. Thermal Pollution • Aquatic organisms poorly adapted to changes in temperature • Reduce DO • Causes • Industrial - especially electrical plants • Loss of riparian buffers • Increased runoff (decreased infiltration)

23. Water Pollution Control • Source Reduction • Nonpoint sources and land management • Human Waste disposal

24. Measuring Water Quality • Coliform bacteria counts(swimming 200 colonies per 100 ml) • DO in water (BOD of waste) • Chemical analysis • Macroinvertebrate assessment (indicator species) • Physical properties: • Temperature • Suspended solids - turbidity

25. Figure 19-2Page 485

26. Point and Nonpoint • Point • Discharge pollution from specific locations • Drain pipes • ditches • Sewer outlets • Discrete and identifiable • Easier to monitor and regulate Nonpoint • Scattered or Diffuse • May be Episodic • Precipitation acid and toxic rain • Runoff pavement, lawns, farms construction sites

27. Figure 19-4Page 486 NONPOINT SOURCES Rural homes Cropland Urban streets Animal feedlot POINT SOURCES Suburban development Factory Wastewater treatment plant Ocean Non-point sources

29. Coastal Pollution

30. Figure 19-14Page 500 Cooperstown NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA ATLANTIC OCEAN Harrisburg NEW JERSEY MARYLAND Baltimore Washington DELAWARE WEST VIRGINIA Richmond Chesapeake Bay VIRGINIA Norfolk Drainage basin No oxygen Low concentrations of oxygen

31. Open Ocean Pollution • Dumping of toxics, human wastes • Common in developing, often shipped from developed!! • Radioactive wastes • Excessive nutrients • Sediments from land – destroying coral reefs

32. Petroleum – • Crude and refined – much variation • Sources • Accidents (blowouts and tankers – Valedez)Normal operations • 50-90% - from land and sewers!! • Effects – many variables • Volatile organic hydrocarbons – toxics to many organisms • Crude – coats birds and some mammals • Coat, smother bottom dwellers • Poison bivalves

33. Toxics in the oceans • Metals and slowly degrading chemicals threaten inland and coastal waters. Toxic materials settle into sea-floor sediments - hazards to benthic organisms that live in and feed on bottom muds. • Persistent chemicals may enter the food web and contaminate the fish and shellfish we eat. • May bioaccumulate and biomagnify

34. Debris and trash • Almost 300 miles from the nearest inhabited island and over 3000 miles from the nearest continent, Ducie Atoll in the South Pacific is one of the most remote islands

35. Regulation • The Law of the Sea limits exploitation • The London Convention discourages dumping at sea

36. Oceans and Nutrient Pollution • Warning Signs • Too many nutrients lead to too little oxygen

37. Climate Change and the Oceans • Oceans are crucial in shaping climate - they store and move heat around the planet – think of ocean currents • they're a major source and storehouse for gases (such as carbon dioxide) that affect climate • Storms might rage • Shores might be submerged §Sea level would rise if the oceans warmed, If polar ice caps melted, sea level would rise further • A rise of even a few centimeters would flood low-lying islands and coastal cities. • Coral reefs might die back §

38. Figure 19-15Page 502 Prevention Reduce input of toxic pollutants Separate sewage and storm lines Ban ocean dumping of sludge and hazardous dredged material Protect sensitive areas from development, oil drilling, and oil shipping Regulate coastal development Recycle used oil Require double hulls for oil tankers Cleanup Improve oil-spill cleanup capabilities Require at least secondary treatment of coastal sewage or use wetlands, solar-aquatic, or other sewage treatment methods Require improved air pollution cleanup to reduce input from the atmosphere

39. Where is Pennsylvania’s Ground Water? Everywhere ! • Below Water Table • Filling pore space • Filling fractures

40. 5 Years Recharge Area Recharge Area Discharge Area

41. Hydrologic Cycle in Pennsylvania

42. >50% Homes >50% GW Where is Ground-Water Most Important?

43. Aquifers by Rock Type Sandstone & Shale Carbonate Crystalline Unconsolidated Sand & Gravel

44. Carbonate Rock Aquifers Sandstone & Shale Carbonate Carbonate Crystalline Unconsolidated Sand & Gravel

45. Characteristics of Carbonate Rocks Precipitation • Large Openings • High Yields • Vulnerable • High Recharge

46. Crystalline-Rock Aquifers Sandstone & Shale Carbonate Crystalline Crystalline Unconsolidated Sand & Gravel

47. GW Discharge to Streams SHERMAN CREEK STREAMFLOW BASEFLOW 85% Baseflow

48. Waste Disposal – Septic Systems

49. Groundwater Pollutants

50. Wellhead Protection Area contributing Recharge to well Supply Well